I’m at a loss as to what to do. I started taking pre-natal vitamins, I’ve been eating better, started excercising, drink more water, completely cut out heat styling (except blow drying). I used to flat iron everyday and now I just blow dry with a round brush (which I did in the photos above), but I think it looks horrible. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to style it? I can’t curl it because it’s too short in the front. I think the layers look HORRID and I honestly feel like just shaving it all off. How is it possible that after 5 years this is all the lenght I have retained?

i’m no expert but a) your hair is NOT ‘horrible’! and b) buy some clip in extensions! they are great, super easy and will give you some length and volume while you figure out what to do with your hair and wait for it to grow!

I don’t see anything wrong with it! I mean it’s not long and thick, but neither is mine or a lot of people’s hair! If you really want to grow it longer, I think you need to stop using any heat products, especially not a straightener. You could get your thyroid and hormone levels checked if you think it’s a big problem, but you likely just have thin/fine hair.

@sparklypinkkitty: I don’t think your hair looks too bad! But I totally understand as I had a cut like that, and I hated it 🙁

Are you going to the hairdresser and getting trims? Stop. Let it grow for a year or more, and there will be lots more hair to work with and you can get away from the layers. It might look like hell for a while but it will help with the length. That is what I had to do with my terrible hair cut (it actually looked like a mullet on my head).

For styling it, you could do a half-up and half-down style. You could also pin the shortest front layer peices up (the peices that would be your bangs), into a little pompadour or twist.

Is it parted in the middle? Try doing a deep side part to make faux sideswept bangs and put the rest of your hair in a high ponytail or side bun.

I’m not super great at hair, but those are my suggestions. I bet other bees have better ones!

@sparklypinkkitty: I donated my hair in 2009 and I have been growing back out since then. I only get it cut every 6 months and wash it every other day (using dry shampoo on other days). I feel your pain! It grows so slowly.

Your haircut totally reminds me of how Carrie Underwood’s used to be. You can use these photos to get some inspiration!

Curls:

Pin the shorter front pieces up:

Or you could always do clip-in extensions, and I think your hair would totally look like Britney’s here:

@sparklypinkkitty: Your hair looks fine. If your layers won’t grow out, I’d find another stylist who won’t keep cutting them into the same cut. If your hair seriously can only go into layers, and you don’t like it, you could try getting a cute bob.

Your hair is a great length and the angles/layers will help with giving curls/waves or romantic up-dos….

..but if you don’t like it, to help it grow quickly: don’t brush it aggresively (esp when wet), wait an extra day to wash, don’t blow dry/straiten it daily – the less stress on your hair the less it breaks the quicker it grows. Also don’t let your stylist do more than an trim to clean up the split ends because if your hair does grow more slowly, then you don’t want to cut off more than you’ve grown.

Do you dye your hair? That may be causing the ends to break faster than they would normally (mine does that, it’s stuck about 3 inches shorter than my desired length). Stop even blow-drying it (shower at night, let it air dry, just a very gentle toweling so it’s not dripping), and perhaps wash your hair less often. Trust me, it will adjust.

The round brush looks like it’s pulling your hair too close to your head. Try scrunching instead… Your hair is just thin, don’t cut it at all for a while, maybe use protective styles if it’s long enough to hold them. Your hair isn’t that bad, though, I definitely wouldn’t shave it off, but I understand the frustration! Maybe get a wig for fun, on the really bad days?